D7XG 35 Learning Outcome 3
Sending and managing email communications
For as long as we have had
access to the internet, we have used it to communicate with one another. The
desire to communicate appears to have been an essential part of all human
societies (Sacks, 1989), and in the 21st century we have a greater
choice than ever before about how, where and when we do so.
Electronic mail – or ‘email’
as it has become known’ – is cheap (or free) to use, and easy to get to grips
with. If you have a home computer, your ISP (Internet Service
Provider) – the company who, for a monthly fee, provide your internet
connection, may well provide you with an email account as well. For example, janesmith@aol.com might be a home user with
an AOL account. Alternatively, your employer may provide you with an account
(such as pcurrie@stow.ac.uk) - although
remember that they can also regulate what such an account can and cannot be
used for!
Many people also use free
email accounts such as those provided by yahoo and hotmail. These popular
accounts are subsidised by heavy site licensing, but provide a useful and
reasonably secure service which you can access from anywhere in the world.
Sending an email
For the purposes of this
unit, you may use any email account that can be accessed from within the
college. If you don’t have an email account, you can’t access it from college
or you would rather not use your personal account, you will need to set up an
account at www.hotmail.com
Programs such as hotmail and
Outlook Express are known as email clients. If you send an email from
one account to another, it doesn’t go straight there. An email is sent electronically
from a client to an email server, a program running on an ISP’s server,
and on to the recipient’s client.
Questions
- When you read an email, are you using an email
client or an email server?
- Is hotmail an email client or an email server?
- What is an ISP?
Look at the graphic below of
a typical hotmail account.
Explain the purpose of the
labelled buttons/areas:
A B
C D
E F
G H
I J
K L
M N
To send an email using
hotmail, click on the ‘new’ button at the left of the screen. You should then
see a graphic like this:
Exercise
Log in to your email
account.
Working on your own or in
pairs, complete the following exercise.
Using the diagram above,
write an email explaining the process of sending an email. You should include:
How to address the mail
How to add context (e.g. the
message itself)
How to send the email to one
person, and things that you should check about their email address
What the letters ‘cc’ and
‘bcc’ mean, giving an example of when you might use them
Choose an appropriate
message for the ‘subject line’ and send your email to:
Working in pairs or small
groups, discuss a list of ‘email do’s and don’ts’. You should think about the
context of the email (e.g. workplace, to friends and family), security issues,
accessibility, things to check before you hit send, and any other factors you
feel are relevant.
Email Do’s |
Email Don’ts |
|
|
|
Once you have completed your
list, compare your answers with www.emailreplies.com.
Are there any issues there which surprise you, or which you know you are guilty
of?
Problems with email
A number of problems may
arise with the use of email, from misunderstandings to deliberate criminal
activity or attempts to attack another user’s system.
A selection of articles are
attached to help you understand some of the problems associated with using email,
and also some of the advantages. While most are recent, I have included one
article from 1998 for historical interest – do you think the same fears still
hold?
Read the articles and
discuss:
·
What are the main
problems identified in using email?
·
What can be done to
tackle these problems?
·
What opportunities does
email open up?